Joseph Arthur and the Lonely Astronauts – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, 20 July 2009

Hazel Davis goes for a lie-down

Sometimes I long for the good old days. The days where I would be sitting in an audience and the act would walk on stage and NOT stick his foot on a loop pedal.

Like most people, when I first saw someone using a loop I was enthralled and engaged. For about ten minutes. When used properly (see Denis Jones) it can be a thing of wonder. But often, it seems, using a loop is just a way to get out of the fact that your songs aren’t interesting enough to stand alone. Or that you are so dull that nobody else will play with you.

Ohio-born Joseph Arthur does have a band though. The Lonely Astronauts are a rum collection comprising unsmiling dolly-bird bassist, Sibyl Buck, Michael J Fox-lookeylikey guitarist Kraig Jarret Johnson and drummer Greg “G Wiz” Wieczorek. They didn’t come on stage until a few songs in but by this time my attention has started to wander. The first few songs were standard singer-songwriter whiny Verveish man-with-plastered-down-hair numbers. He didn’t crack a smile until about six songs in when he simply said “Monday night Leeds” and the audience roared.

The audience roared because we were in the Brudenell Social Club, one of the nicest venues in the country, one with a loyal crowd of music geeks who would probably applaud Josef Fritzl if he came on stage with his kids and a loop pedal.

To be fair to Arthur, he does have something of a following. He’s been covered by Coldplay and REM and he’s toured with Tracey Chapman and Joan Wasser and the people here to see him sang along and clapped with gusto.

Unfortunately, for me the highlight was the chap at the front. Nobody was quite sure whether he belonged to the venue or had come along especially for the gig but he danced and danced with gay abandon, stopping only to remove the bottom part of his trousers to convert them into shorts. To Arthur’s credit he dedicated a song to him and encouraged the rest of the audience to join him, which they did. Which meant I could leave unnoticed. Result.

Hazel Davis